Business

Deal Ends Infineon Strike

German semi-conductors giant Infineon said on Monday that management and unions had reached an agreement that would end an indefinite strike at the group's factory in Munich-Perlach.

Union officials struck a deal with management on Monday

The strike, staged in protest at plans to close the plant in 2007, has effectively caused the factory to come completely to a standstill for a week. But a deal was struck in the early hours of Monday with management agreeing to pay higher compensation to employees who are to be laid off as part of the closure, Infineon said in a statement.

In return, the powerful IG Metall labor union dropped demands to extend the planned closure deadline and "significantly reduced" its demand for retraining measures for the employees affected, the statement said.

"After IG Metall dropped their demands for a delay in the closure and significantly reduced the demand for qualification measures, we had more room to increase employees' pay-offs," said Infineon manager Reinhard Ploss.

Infineon had said at the end of February that it planned to shut down the Munich-Perlach site by 2007. Earlier this month, Infineon revealed that rival chip maker X-Fab had decided not to buy the ageing computer chip plant because the factory's economic and structural deficits were "insurmountable."